To reduce a fraction to the lowest terms equivalent: divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, GCF
To calculate the greatest common factor, GCF:
- 1. Factor the numerator and the denominator (into prime factors), build their prime factorizations.
- 2. Multiply all their common prime factors, taken by the lowest exponents.
1. Factor the numerator and the denominator:
To factor a number (into prime factors) - or, in other words, to break it down to prime factors - or, in other words, to build its prime factorization: find the prime numbers that multiply together to get that number.
The prime factorizations:
Written with exponents:
27,292,041 = 3 × 3 × 7 × 433,207 = 32 × 7 × 433,207
27,292,041 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
59,400,027 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 73 × 30,137 = 33 × 73 × 30,137
59,400,027 is a composite number.
27,292,041/59,400,027 =
(27,292,041 ÷ 9) / (59,400,027 ÷ 9) =
3,032,449/6,600,003
Yet another method to reduce the fraction
To reduce a fraction without calculating the GCF: factor its numerator and denominator, then all the common prime factors are easily identified and crossed out.
27,292,041/59,400,027 =
(32 × 7 × 433,207)/(33 × 73 × 30,137) =
((32 × 7 × 433,207) ÷ 32) / ((33 × 73 × 30,137) ÷ 32) =
(7 × 433,207)/(3 × 73 × 30,137) =
3,032,449/6,600,003
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
3,032,449/6,600,003 =
3,032,449 ÷ 6,600,003 =
0.459461760851 ≈
0.46